Aims:To introduce some common acronyms used in e-mails
To look at some tips for writing e-mails
To give intensive reading practice
To give oral fluency practice
To give practice in writing e.mails - if the writing activity
is used as a follow up

Assumptions:That the stds use or will be using in the near future
e-mails in English & that the stds will therefore find
the theme interesting
That some of the acronyms & e-mail tips will be known
That the language in the e-mail reading will generally be
OK although there are some unknown words - see anticipated
problems. For latin-based languages there are a lot of 'similar'
words

1. Elicit the times that the stds write in
a normal day - e-mail should come out here > follow on
with a discussion on the value of e-mails > then on to
how to write them - any rules? Heard of acronyms used in e-mails?

Stage 2: Lead in to raise interest

std<>std, tch< > stds, 5 mins

1. Match up acronyms & meaning, in pairs.
There's the same activity with emoticons as well - explain
that they have to lok at them side on.
2. Feedback - elicit any more they might know & any they
use in their language(s)

A Compendium
of Netiquette - put the following points into the
appropriate column below

Always greet your correspondent
Start your message in the subject field
Overuse acronyms; you may not be understood
Wait a day, if possible, before answering
Forward e-mails without getting the author's permission
first
Re-read before sending
Think before you write
Write anything you wouldn't put on a postcardIf you are angry, wait even longer
Be brief
Write in capital letters; it will be perceived as shouting
Don't use
Think creatively about your subject line
Use upper & lower case
Use e-mail as a weapon or to conduct difficult conversations
Spell & punctuate properly
Sign off simply
Be negative

DOs

DON'Ts

Answers:

DOs

DON'Ts

Always
greet your correspondent
Think before you write
Re-read before sending
Wait a day, if possible, before answering
If you are angry, wait even longer
procedure
Be brief
Think creatively about your subject line
Use upper & lower case
Spell & punctuate properly
Sign off simply

Don't
start your message in the subject field
Don't overuse acronyms; you may not be understood
Don't forward e-mails without getting the author's permission
first
Don't write anything you wouldn't put on a postcard
Don't write in capital letters; it will be perceived as
shouting
Don't use e-mail as a weapon or to conduct difficult conversations
Don't be negative

- stds write their own hoaxes - following
the problem - solution structure of the example e-mail - should
be lots of fun

- stds search on the Net for more hoaxes
- supply them with some of the addresses from the July Newsletter.
They bring them in, swap them around & vote on the most
outlandish/interesting/provocative etc.

Hello, my name is Harold Anslinger. One month ago,
my little boy, Tommy, was diagnosed with Simiatomia-B,
a rare genetic disorder which affects the nuclei of
cells.

Chromosomes are genetically modified and human chromosomes
are slowly changed into chromosomes of a chimpanzee.
My beautiful six-year-old son is slowly turning into
a monkey.

Needless to say, this is a burden on my wife, Marlene,
and I. The doctor's bills are staggering, not to mention
the cost of bananas and the little tricycles that chimps
like to ride. Doctors tell us that the changeover will
be complete in one year and that our only hope is a
new experimental treatment available at Johns Hopkins.
In an act of extreme generosity, Microsoft, Johns Hopkins,
and the Pope have volunteered to donate one cent for
every e-mail that you forward. God bless Bill Gates!
God bless Mr. Hopkins! God bless His Holiness!

Here's how it works. Every time you forward this e-mail,
special tracking software in Switzerland keeps track
of it and the money is automatically placed in a Swiss
bank account. We need to raise approximately three million
dollars, which is 300 million e-mails, so please forward
this message to all of your relatives, all of your friends,
and even people you may not like so much. It's imperative
in order to keep little Tommy from becoming a chimp,
and to find a solution for others like him.

In the event that we can't raise the three million
dollars, the money will be donated to Campbell Soup's
"pea soup for hobos" project, where cans of
sodium-laden soup are donated to indigent people riding
the rails. I have to go now. Tommy is screeching for
another banana.